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Thanks to those generous people @Gollancz we are offering one lucky UK winner a chance to win ~ Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter.

READ THIS BLOG – RULES AT THE END

A word from PR Guru @steviefinegan

Hello all,

I’m very excited to tell you about this; The Massacre of Mankind is a brilliant way to start the year. It is written by one of the UK’s best-known and most well-respected SF authors, continuing on from where HG Wells left off with The War of the Worlds. It’s already seen some fantastic reviews in The Times and SFX Magazine, not to mention that the Guardian named it as one of their top books to look out for in 2017?

It has been 14 years since the Martians invaded England. The world has moved on, always watching the skies but content that we know how to defeat the Martian menace. Machinery looted from the abandoned capsules and war-machines has led to technological leaps forward. The Martians are vulnerable to earth germs. The Army is prepared.

So when the signs of launches on Mars are seen, there seems little reason to worry. Unless you listen to one man, Walter Jenkins, the narrator of Wells’ book. He is sure that the Martians have learned, adapted, understood their defeat. He is right. Thrust into the chaos of a new invasion, a journalist – sister-in-law to Walter Jenkins – must survive, escape and report on the war. The Massacre of Mankind has begun.

STEPHEN BAXTER is the pre-eminent science fiction writer of his generation. He has co-written with Terry Pratchett and Alastair Reynolds and written sequels to the works of other scifi greats including Arthur C Clarke. Published around the world, he has also won major awards in the UK, US, Germany and Japan. Born in 1957 he has degrees from Cambridge and Southampton. He lives in Northumberland with his wife and is a HG Wells expert.

Awesomeness – Harper Collins have offered a copy of Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough to you, Terror Tree readers!

Louise

Since her husband walked out, Louise has made her son her world, supporting them both with her part-time job. But all that changes when she meets…

David

Young, successful and charming – Louise cannot believe a man like him would look at her twice let alone be attracted to her. But that all comes to a grinding halt when she meets his wife…

Adele

Beautiful, elegant and sweet – Louise’s new friend seems perfect in every way. As she becomes obsessed by this flawless couple, entangled in the intricate web of their marriage, they each, in turn, reach out to her.

But only when she gets to know them both does she begin to see the cracks… Is David really is the man she thought she knew and is Adele as vulnerable as she appears?
Just what terrible secrets are they both hiding and how far will they go to keep them?

To be in with a chance to win this hugely anticipated mystery/thrill book by the very talented Sarah Pinborough here’s what you do:

The gateway only opened for a few seconds but it was long enough to let them escape. I jumped through after the dark-fae, desperate to fuse the two partitions shut before anymore breached the city.

It was my job to guard the entrance; and I had failed. How many had snuck through that breach?

I sniffed the air, scenting for traces of dark magic.

There. Just a hint.

I grabbed my dagger and headed towards the dark-fae.

***

It took me a little over forty minutes to track him; would’ve took a purebred longer, but I was good. And I was a halfling.

I smelled him before I saw him, all apple and spice; yummy.
I’d known that dark-fae were pretty irresistible, but this one was breathtaking. He was at least 6ft 3in, broad shoulders swathed in a long black coat, shoulder-length brown hair, and piercing green eyes. And those lips. Damn, I felt my lady parts clench at the thought of him.

Molly, get control!

I took a deep breath and edged towards him, blade at the ready in case, dousing him in sleep-dust.

He dropped to the ground of the alleyway in a heap.

Good. I needed him alive.

***
The dark-fae came around slowly, shaking his head to rouse himself. Even that small action aroused me. He grunted, shook his head again, opening those gorgeous green eyes.
“Morning handsome,” I said.
“Ugh, what happened?” His voice was deep, throaty. I liked it.
I liked him. But I shouldn’t like anything about him. He was the bad guy.

“Oh you’re so romantic,” he said, “can’t wait to get you into bed! That’ll be fun.”

“You should be so lucky!” I snarled, offended despite the fact I so had no intention of sleeping with him.
“Really?” he asked, looking me up and down.
And I gulped.
Okay, he was hot. Very hot. And I had to admit I found him attractive; annoying as hell, but still, attractive. But there was no way –
“Even if it closes the gate?” he asked, almost innocently.
Triple crap. There was only one way to fuse the gateway closed, to keep anymore dark-fae escaping, and that was through sex.
I looked at his smouldering green eyes and let out a ragged breath.
It’s a hard job, I thought, but someone has to do it.

***
“I don’t even know your name,” I whispered, staring at the naked, broad, olive-skinned chest and shoulders that faced me. I mean, literally faced me – he was at least a foot taller.
He’d stripped off in just a couple of swift moves and I was gaping at how delicious he looked. All tanned skin and muscle.
We were stood in front of the graffitied, brick wall, invisible to mundane eyes, both undressed.
“Jared,” he breathed, eyeing me up and down.
I’d stripped before him, brave, but now I felt self-conscious as he drank me in, then moved towards me, predator-like, his tall figure just inches in front of mine.
“Jared,” I said, my tongue suddenly dry.
“Beautiful,” he returned, one strong arm grasping my hips, the other, cradling my neck and reaching down to kiss me.
I forgot everything as he swooped in and his lips took mine, his tongue moving expertly in an intimate dance, stealing my breath away.
The magic rose as he continued to kiss me,
Then the arm grasping my hip was suddenly gone, and I felt warm flesh between us and gasped as his finger plunged deep inside me, finding that sweet spot.
“Oh gods,” I screamed, as his fingers moved inside me, playing with my clitoris, gentle yet eager, alternately building me up towards orgasm then pulling me back down, until it was almost all-consuming.
“For the God’s Sake, Jared,” I whimpered, as his mouth pulled away, finding one erect nipple, then the next, his tongue flicking over the bud, then a flash of light and he was inside me, pushing, slowly at first.
“Molly,” he breathed, lifting me up and shoving my back against the wall that firmed the gateway” “You’re mine.”
I should’ve been offended, but I was too busy spiralling to my first orgasm in years, as he thrust inside me, nuzzling my neck and groaning my name, his movements becoming faster and faster, the tingling and warmth inside me, rippling, then growing until finally, our screams roared out in unison.
The orgasm burst through me, a tidal wave of pleasure and magic offering me the release I needed as I collapsed back into the wall, shuddering through the ecstasy.
I felt him come inside me, a jack knife of pleasure roaring through us both, the magic rushing between us, in us, then into the gateway, fusing the two halves into one while.
Just like us, I thought absently, my head flopping onto his firm shoulders as my whole body sagged.
I felt the gateway close, a million dark souls screaming in frustration as the magic sealed it shut, forever.